Transition metal ions that are readily solubilized in the environment are known on occasion to have deleterious impacts. Immobilizing the transition metals before they reach locations or facilities that are sensitive to their presence is an important remediation strategy. It would be advantageous in terms of development costs and speed of deployment, if similar immobilization methods and systems would be able to remediate environments already experiencing contamination.
Once contaminants are collected, it is advantageous to reclaim the contaminants into commercially viable metal sources.